


Wild for Reasons

by finnglas (mjules)



Category: Maleficent (2014)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-22
Updated: 2014-12-22
Packaged: 2018-03-02 19:20:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2823209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mjules/pseuds/finnglas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The moment something restless caught her by surprise</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wild for Reasons

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Siremele](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siremele/gifts).



> Maleficent is one of my favorite movies of the year, and the character one of the best reinterpretations I've ever seen, so I was delighted when you wanted a story that centered on her. I don't know that I've done her justice in this story, but thank you for the chance to try. :)
> 
> Title and quotes from "Surprise" by Jars of Clay

 

> _We are so beautiful when we sleep_  
>  _Hearts of gold and eyes so deep, deep, deep_  
>  _But love won't cure the chaos_  
>  _And hope won't hide the loss_  
>  _And peace is not the heroine that shouts above the cause_

It was fitting that her name was Aurora, for she brought light into places that had known only darkness for too long -- not just the Moors, but deep into the shadowy corners of its heart, the wingless witch who guarded its borders. All the joy had gone out of the task for her, and with it, the light and color from the land and the fair people she ruled.

After the first time she brought Aurora to the Moors, the water fae made their first request of her since she had fashioned the briar throne.

“Will you bring her back, sometime, majesty?” one of them asked in her small, watery voice. “She was so bright.”

Maleficent had frowned, and the nymph had skittered away, but she did not forget. She was so bright.

Aurora was the first person in years to love the Moors as Maleficent had always loved them, though Maleficent’s love had long ago tarnished and dulled to duty. She saw them with the wonder that Maleficent had hoped Stefan would, long ago, when she was nothing but a girl with a heart full of trust and no reason to doubt mercy.

Perhaps, she murmured to herself late at night, watching the blink and glow of lights beneath the surface of the pools, where jewels glimmered dimly like sharp little pieces of hope that pressed up against the soft, hidden parts of her soul. “Perhaps,” she whispered, more quietly than the breeze, and Diaval wisely remained silent on his branch behind her.

\---

She dreams, and her dreams make her wish she never slept. She wakes often, gasping, feeling for a moment the fresh iron burn of betrayal at her back. The loss is fresh every time, her wings the ghost of a memory behind her, as if they still beat somewhere, aching to return to her.

Sleep betrayed her once, and it is not to be trusted now.

“You must sleep sometime,” Diaval grumbles when her endless fidgeting disturbs him, giving her a dark, beady look when he lifts his head from under his wing.

“Not now,” she says, and he sighs, feathers rustling as he settles back into himself.

\---

Maleficent always cast a sleeping spell on Aurora when she brought her to the Moors. She considered, once or twice, leading her by the hand, letting her know the path, but she remembered too well what happened when humans knew the path to the Moors.

“Aurora isn’t like that,” Diaval said once, and Maleficent held up a hand threateningly.

“Mealyworms can’t talk,” she said, and he just shrugged.

“She isn’t.”

Maleficent frowned, willing the briars apart so Aurora could float through safely behind her, taking care not to snag her dress or golden hair on the thorns.

“I thought that about another, once,” she finally murmured, and Diaval was quiet for long, shadowy moments before he answered.

“She is not her father.”

He didn’t flinch, even when she threatened her shape-change gesture.

“You know too much,” Maleficent said, but her voice was tired, resigned, and he didn’t press her on it.

\---

It was the sight of Aurora sleeping that finally made her realize what she already knew: that she would be the one who lost the most if Aurora never wakened from her curse. She would never again see the Moors in shining sunlight, never hear laughter quite as bright, if Aurora slept for ages.

But no matter how much she willed it, her regret alone was not enough to reverse the words of binding she’d spoken, and Aurora slept on, unaware of the clock ticking down her life.

\---

In her worst nightmares, she no longer feels the fresh ache of deep wounds or hears Stefan’s voice telling her to sleep.

Now she sits and watches her princess sleep, counts the breaths that rise and fall within her chest, and dares not to blink lest she miss the flutter of an eyelash, any sign of waking.

Now she dreams that she never thought to kiss her -- or that it made no difference that she did, that her heart was too withered to truly love, that the curse lived within her.

She wakes often, and in so doing wakes Aurora, who smiles sleepily and bats her hand away fondly.

“I have to sleep _sometime_ , you know,” she mumbles.

“We’ll have to work on that,” Maleficent chuckles, and lies awake for long hours yet, watching her chest rise and fall, watching her eyelids twitch, and breathing the spell of sweet dreams into her ears.

\---

It was fitting that her name was Maleficent, for great harm had been done to her with great malice.

“I am sorry I called you evil,” Aurora said to her when they returned to the Moors. “I thought… it seemed so obvious that you had tricked me into loving you in order to accomplish your curse, but sometimes the obvious answer isn’t the truest one.”

“I never held it against you, beastie,” Maleficent murmured, backs of her knuckles brushing Aurora’s hair from her face. “I did bring evil upon you.”

“And removed it yourself.” Aurora’s smile was still the brightest thing in any sky, and Maleficent could not help answering with one of her own.

“I could not do otherwise without losing something even more precious than my wings.”

“Your wings… Seeing them in that case…” Distress knitted her brow, and her fingers curled around Maleficent’s, her voice growing quiet and hoarse. “I am sorry for what my father did to you.”

Maleficent cupped her face, pale pink scars still faint on her fingers from the iron net that had bound her, and kissed Aurora’s golden brow. “You healed even the oldest wounds and made me whole again. There is nothing for you to regret.” She paused, thoughtful, thumb soft on Aurora’s temple. “I believe there is yet another thing you can heal, if you are willing.”

\---

On her coronation day, Maleficent placed a bright crown on Aurora’s brow. “You are queen of the Moors now, beastie,” she said, quiet so only Aurora could hear. “You brought light back to its darkest corners, and I am glad to relinquish my crown to you.”

Aurora’s hands were warm on hers, full of kindness and no small amount of wonder. “You will always be queen to me.”

\---

She is wide awake, and it is the sweetest dream yet.

 

 

> _Dream, little one_  
>  _See the world just begun_
> 
> _Love is wild for reasons_  
>  _And hope though short in sight_  
>  _Might be the only thing that brings you back to life_  
>  _For a moment I thought I saw your eyelids rise_
> 
> _Surprise..._


End file.
